Opinions

The bond market is in trouble. As we all know, the Federal Reserve has been the biggest driver of bonds since the financial crisis. The central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate to near zero, then started quantitative easing, all of which resulted in the bond market soaring as yields

The price action and euphoria towards battery-powered carmaker Tesla Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ/TSLA) clearly shows the demand for innovative companies that deliver a great story, as my stock analysis suggests. Investors want to see less demand for energy produced by fossil fuels and more demand for the green energy movement, whether

have been choppy since the beginning of the year and geopolitical events are now the near-term catalyst. It’s a good reminder that it’s worthwhile to review investment risk to equities and what you can tolerate in terms of potential downside with stocks. As these pages are focused on the equity

You didn’t really think that junior miners would languish forever, did you? Junior mining stocks are starting to make a careful climb from the depths after tax-loss selling in December. But some investors, beaten down as badly as mining stocks, are still hesitant. For those investors, Michael Ballanger, director of

Trading options isn’t easy. It is important that investors understand them clearly; if they don’t, they could lose their entire investment, be faced with heavy losses, or end up with a position they never really wanted in the first place if the trade doesn’t work in their favor. Knowing what

At this time last month, the stock market was full of anxiety as we were heading for one of the worst Januarys in recent memory. The talk was about how the decline in January would trigger additional selling pressure in the stock market. The Stock Trader’s Almanac suggested there was

There is a lot of liquidity out there, and all kinds of stocks are experiencing significant price momentum. It’s a bull market still, and no matter how long it has to run, it seems that valuations aren’t as important as owning the right stocks for institutional investors. Countless names have

On February 24, the S&P 500 broke to a new all-time high. There was panic buying as soon as the markets opened that day, as the chart below depicts.   Chart courtesy of www.StockCharts.com Looking at this, I can’t help but ask if investors have completely lost touch with reality.

We all know how bad this winter has been so far. The harsh weather across the majority of the country has impacted jobs growth, commerce, housing, and consumer spending. Of course, with the spring season on the horizon, we’ll soon see if the weak economic metrics mentioned were really an

Among blue chips, 3M Company (MMM) is getting a lot of increased earnings estimates from analysts. For such a mature company, 3M’s been doing very well on the stock market, and it looks to be well-positioned for more capital gains. At the end of 2013, 3M had approximately 89,000 employees

When you are looking at your portfolio and considering making adjustments, it’s important to take into account not only the current environment, but what potential changes could occur in the future that can alter your investment strategy. Here’s a perfect example of what I’m talking about: We all know that

The key stock indices continue to make new highs. Each day, there’s someone on the TV saying how we are going higher. Some are estimating key stock indices will do much better this year than last. No matter where you look, the opinion seems to be the same: buy stocks

Mainstream stock advisors are blowing air…telling us the U.S. economy is stalling due to cold weather. They say the economic chill caused by the uncharacteristically cold weather this year is only temporary. I don’t believe this for a moment. Sure, the weather had its impact. Consumers have been reluctant to

The harsh winter conditions have negatively impacted the housing market, but the underlying long-term fundamentals appear to be in place and have not worsened. If the economic renewal continues, my sense is that the housing market will strengthen as we move along this year, which means continued opportunities in the

“Outback Steakhouse,” “Carrabba’s Italian Grill,” “Bonefish Grill,” “Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar,” and “Roy’s” are all owned by Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (BLMN). With 1,500 restaurants in the U.S. and 21 other countries, business for the company is solid. Fourth-quarter sales grew 5.1% to $1.1 billion due to new restaurant

Consumer spending is highly correlated with consumer sentiment. It makes sense that when consumers believe their jobs are in trouble or they won’t have enough money going forward, they pull back on their spending and only buy what they need. On the contrary, if they believe all is well—they expect

There is a lot of money trading the stock market each day, and this is especially true with the momentum stocks that are making many traders rich. While anyone can trade momentum stocks; to make the real big money, you need to be trading big positions on these momentum stocks

Michael Fowler, senior mining analyst with Loewen Ondaatje McCutcheon Ltd. in Toronto, doesn’t typically focus on midtier gold companies, but the opportunities are just too good to pass up. In this interview with The Gold Report, Fowler tells us that even private equity is getting into the game and discusses

A few days ago, I woke up to news that reminded me of the “Dot-com Boom” of the late 90s and early 2000. I’m sure you remember those days—the days when any company with “.com” attached to it received a lot of attention….and a high stock price. Investors bought these

The NASDAQ Composite index sold off significantly in January to around 4,000. Then it recovered to its current level at 4,300, which is a pretty substantial move.  For a number of months now, the NASDAQ has been outperforming both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average. This relative outperformance